8 LITTLE LETTERS WITH SO MUCH WEIGHT BEHIND THEM

Thank you

8 little letters with so much weight behind them.

How do you say thank you to a family that in their darkest hour, thought of another?

Someone they will probably never meet. Someone whose name they don’t even know. What a selfless decision to make. To change someone else's life, for the better when yours is falling apart. Your decision has changed my life and the lives of all those around me forever. Thank you, I say it quietly to you many times a day for so many reasons big and small.

Thank you for giving me the gift of life, the gift of freedom, I am no longer stuck doing dialysis every second day. I can go on holidays, and weekends away. I no longer wake up with a feeling of dread, thinking about dialysis.

Thank you for giving me the chance to be the mother I have always wanted to be, to keep up with my boys, To ride bikes and kick balls, and play without tiring. Not having to choose which day I can spend with my kids and which days are for dialysis.

Thank you for allowing me to say yes, to school commitments, weekends away, nights out, a piece of pavlova (no insulin required), swimming without central lines and coffees with friends (bye bye fluid restrictions).

Thank you for giving my family their lives back, allowing them to move back into the roles of Husband, Mother, Father, In-Laws and away from being my carers.

Thank you for giving me the energy to study, to take up art again, to slowly ease my way back into work, these things are all giving me a sense of purpose and widening my community - illness and dialysis can feel very isolating.

Some of these may seem very small to most people but they are all important to me, they have all made me feel ‘normal’ again. I am coming up to my 1 year anniversary, and I have my sights set on bigger things as I slowly take my life back.

Words will never be enough, I will continue to say thank you to you everyday, quietly to myself, but I will also live my life to the fullest, and get the most from everyday. I will use my actions to show my gratitude, because those 8 little letters will never be enough.